(Part 1)
As if the recent hostage crisis is not enough to put the OFWs’ image abroad in very bad light, the many drug cases involving our migrant workers appear to be the unkindest cut of all.
There are more than 300 OFWs in China alone who are reportedly facing death sentences. This is not to mention the scores of death convictions in the Middle East, not only for drugs but also for murder and other capital offenses. These kind of publicity is not helping our OFWs as they struggle to put their best foot forward, in pushing for the Filipino brand of migrant workers’ service.
These last few weeks, the Filipino brand suffered a major, major beating. And it will take months, if not years to recover from such a series of negative publicity. Thus, this column opts to analyze the probable causes of many Filipino migrant workers’ involvement in prohibited drugs.
There are four basic causes of this phenomenon: First, drugs as defense mechanism against homesickness, depression and loneliness; Second, ignorance leading to imprudent involvement in drug-related problems; Third, premeditated and intentional involvement for gain; Fourth, plain misfortune of being in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
Let us try to analyze each one of these causes. Based on my actual immersion as Labor Attaché for three years in Malaysia, for two years in Kuwait and now for more than six months in Central Taiwan, I can say without fear of contradiction, that our OFWs do suffer chronic loneliness, recurring homesickness and extreme depression, secondary to being culturally shocked in an alien environment, without any support system and exacerbated by the confluence of too much pressure from work-related issues and family problems.
Even as we extol the resiliency of Filipinos, we should not be oblivious that the Filipinos are human beings who are vulnerable to cave-in when exposed to overwhelming pressure, stress and tension. Recourse to drugs become an easy escape from the burden of it all. The lonely and sad, depressed and pressured OFWs are prone to use drugs as a defense mechanism to the ‘’ shams, drudgeries and broken dreams’’ of a hard and lonely life.
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Email: jbjimenez_prof.atty@yahoo.com